Montana Cartel

The Montana Cartel was a Cuban-American, cocaine-based cartel run by Tony Montana during the 1980s. The cartel was formed in 1980 following Montana's takeover of Frank Lopez's organization, and it dominated the cocaine trade in Miami, Florida for three years, with the help of Alejandro Sosa's Bolivian Sosa Cartel. Montana opened legitimate businesses such as Montana Management Co. and Montana Travel Co., and he purchased luxury goods for himself such as a large mansion, a statue of Atlas saying "The World is Yours", a pet tiger, fancy cars, a large indoor swimming pool, and other accessories. His organization's decline coincided with his own decline, caused by his failed marriage and his (interlinked) cocaine addiction. In 1983, he betrayed Sosa by killing hitman Alberto Ruiz instead of helping Ruiz kill journalist Matos Gutierrez, as he refused to blow up Gutierrez while his wife and children were in the car with him. Sosa responded by sending a hit squad to assault Montana's mansion, and Montana was presumed dead after all of his associates were killed and his mansion was taken over by law enforcement. However, in the following months, Montana would emerge from hiding, retake Miami from the Diaz Brothers, the Contreras Cartel, and the Gomez Cartel, expand his operations into the Bahamas (where The Sandman gave him control of cocaine distribution), and kill Sosa in Bolivia. After Sosa's death, the Montana Cartel became the strongest cartel in both Miami and the islands.